DEVIATE X / / AN UNORDINARY FANFICTION

XVI.

I buried my face in my hands, unable to focus on the bio lecture.

What am I even doing? How could John convince me to stay overnight like that? I couldn't believe that John made me make a complete fool out of myself, testing my personal boundaries without hesitation. I felt somewhat obligated to smack him after yesterday's stunts, but knowing him, it would only give him an opening to begin another round of teasing.

"...Delta!"

My head snapped up. My bio teacher glared at me coldly.

"Yes....professor?"

"I asked you why this trait is heterozygous." He snapped and impatiently tapped the board.

I studied the Punnet Square before looking at the picture of the flowers.

"Er...." I stalled as I quickly formulated a response in my head. "Well the uppercase and lowercase h indicates the flowers are heterozygous. If it were homozygous, both the letters would be uppercase." I glanced at the picture. "In addition, this pink flower has a trait of codominance, since the 'parent' flowers were initially white and red."

He scrutinized me and squinted before slightly nodding.

"Very good, Delta. However, please stay focused next time."

"Nice save." Isen whispered next to me, shooting me a dorky thumbs up.

His eyes gleamed with a soft admiration and momentarily blockaded the jittery, bittersweet countenance his eyes marinated in.

"Thanks. Are you still up for that study session?" I asked, reminded that he asked for another tutoring session a week ago.

"I think i'm okay for now...." Isen scratched the back of his head, his leg impatiently shaking under the desk. "Besides, you were out late yesterday, so I would think you have some catching up to do."

".....And how would you know where I was last night?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

Isen froze at the sudden realization of such a suspiciously careless utterance. His face conspicuously became shaded with vividly red hue, only deepening in color as he floundered around in his head for a response to save him.

"I....uh—!"

Before I could demand an answer, the bell interrupted his statement. Before I could stop him, Isen took the opportunity to bolt out of the class, blending among the dozens of students milling about in the hallways.

Damn you, Isen.....

I pulled out my phone expectantly, awaiting John's text, but to my disappointment, there was no notification denoting his confirmation. Strange, he promised me after a quick visit to the Infirmary, he'd meet up with me.

After about ten minutes of waiting, I pushed off the wall and traversed the common route down to the Infirmary.

"Really? That's it?"

"Well, what'd you expect? He's a cripple after all."

"Yeah, but that was a bit too underwhelming. I mean, he didn't even get to fight back."

I straightened at the sight in front of me. Two low tiers loomed over John's barely conscious body, a sense of doubt evident in their squared stances. The boy, sensing my presence, immediately whirled around.

"Delta...?!"

I slowly approached them with a crimson glint residing in my eye. Their apprehension grew thick as I locked my eyes with John's body, kneeling down to examine his injuries.